If people call you when they need someone good, this is for you.

You're the person owners call first. For advice, for a recommendation, for "do you know anyone who...?"

You've made more introductions than you can count: the lawyer, the banker, the IT guy, the buyer for the business. Most of them went well. Almost none of them paid you anything.

You don't make introductions for money. You make them because being the person who knows is part of who you are.

But you guard that reputation carefully. You'd never pass along something that could make you look bad in front of a client.

And lately your clients keep asking you the same question: "What's AI going to do to my business?"

Here's an answer that could put a significant check in their hands, and finally reward you for the network you've spent a career building.

The part nobody is telling you

The owners you know are sitting on something valuable, and nobody is telling them.

The AI labs have read most of the public internet. What they've never seen is how real companies actually work: the decisions, exceptions, fixes and results that live inside a company's systems. Its SOPs, support tickets, QA records, case files and playbooks.

AI companies now need that record to build tools that do real work, and they're paying for it. One of the largest AI data companies in the world pays professionals up to $200 an hour to recreate this kind of work, because, in its CEO's words, "their customers don't want to give them data."

Think about what that means for the owners in your phone.

The staffing firm owner you've done the books for since 2014. The software founder whose IT you set up. The logistics owner from your peer group. The managing partner who still sends you a holiday card. Every one of them has spent years building exactly the record the AI companies want, and most of them have no idea it has a buyer.

Right now, nobody is telling them. And when someone finally does, it may be a stranger with a pitch deck and a bad reputation, not the trusted advisor who should have told them first.

The solution: make one introduction, and let DataSupply do the rest.

DataSupply introduces established companies to prospective data partners whose current demand fits the records they hold. It helps them through the rights, privacy and compliance questions, and it never receives their data. The company signs directly with its commercial counterparty, and the data and any payment go directly between the parties. DataSupply.ai charges a seller-side success commission only if a facilitated transaction closes. See the current commission tiers; the signed Commercialization Agreement controls.

That's the part that protects your reputation. You're not handing a client to a data broker. You're pointing them to a no-obligation fit check, with their data never passing through a middle man.

Here's the referral program in its simplest form:

  1. Get your link. Create a partner account and copy your unique referral link.
  2. Send it to the owners you'd actually call. One personal note each.
  3. They apply. They answer a few quick questions and book a call through your link.
  4. Any reward is governed by your agreed terms. Eligibility and payment are reviewed before a reward is approved.

How partner rewards work. Any reward and its limit are agreed privately and recorded in your partner terms. Rewards are a share of the seller success fee paid to DataSupply, not a percentage of gross contract value or seller proceeds.

Approved payouts are processed after review. It's free to join, and you never pay anything.

To be straight with you, because your reputation deserves it: a referral isn't a guaranteed reward. Every company is reviewed, not every one is selected, and no reward is guaranteed. What you're really giving your clients is a first look at something valuable, from someone they trust.

The proof: this is real money, moving now.

  • Companies are licensing their business data for $250,000 to $2M. These are the numbers DataSupply's lab partners report on real agreements.
  • One leading AI data lab reports more than 100 partner companies and over $200M generated for its partners.
  • OpenAI pays 100+ former investment bankers $150 an hour to recreate financial work for AI training. (Bloomberg)
  • One AI data company went from a $500 million valuation to $4 billion in about a year, selling training data built from real enterprise work.
  • Anthropic was reported to have discussed spending more than $1 billion on environments where AI learns to do real work.

Your clients hold what this market is buying. You hold the relationships.

Case study: the airline that stopped flying, and still got an eight-figure offer.

When a major US airline went bankrupt, its planes were grounded, its routes were gone and its brand was finished.

What was left? The operational records: the day-to-day trail of how the company actually ran.

An AI data company bid $12.5 million for that data.

A company that no longer operated still held records worth an eight-figure bid. Now think about the operating companies you know, still running and still building their record every day. One of them hearing this from you first could be the most valuable introduction you ever make.

The rolodex check: who are your top 10?

Take two minutes. Write down the ten owners you'd call first if you had good news to share. Then check each name against this list:

  • 30 or more employees and more than three years of business records in tools like a CRM, support desk, email or project platform; both criteria are required
  • Their team runs the same workflows every week, ideally with written SOPs, playbooks or QA processes
  • US-based and primarily English-speaking (US companies are prioritized)
  • In one of these industries: technology and SaaS, BPOs and recruiting, financial services, consulting, professional services, legal and compliance, healthcare administration, or logistics and operations

Every name that ticks those boxes belongs on your list.

What to send them. Keep it personal and honest:

"Hey [Name], I came across something you should look at. AI companies are paying established businesses to license records of how their teams actually work, things like SOPs, workflows and resolved tickets. Partner-reported deals run $250,000 to $2M. There's a company called DataSupply that matches businesses with vetted buyers and never touches your data. It's free to check if you qualify. No pressure, but I'd rather you hear it from me first. [your link]. Full disclosure: I'm part of their referral program."

That last line matters. The program requires partners to describe it honestly, to never promise a company will be accepted or paid, and to disclose any ownership or financial interest in a company they refer. If you're a CPA, attorney or other licensed professional, check your own rules on referral compensation and tell your client up front.

Ground rules: only share someone's contact details with their permission. Never collect or forward a company's files. A company already in DataSupply's system, or referred by someone else in the last 12 months, isn't eligible for a new reward. Ask your contacts to apply through your link directly. It's generally remembered for up to 90 days, but a later partner link can take precedence.

Be the one who told them first.

Every owner you know has spent years building how their company works. Most assume that knowledge is worth nothing outside their four walls. You can be the one who shows them otherwise.

I know owners who should hear this first. Get my referral link

Sponsored content from datasupply.ai, operated by Chang Strategic LTD. Referral rewards are governed by the Referral Program Terms and Conditions, which control over this summary. Rewards are based on verified USD payments to the referred company, subject to eligibility, review and caps. No acceptance, transaction, amount or reward is guaranteed. Partner commission terms are agreed privately with DataSupply. Any eligible reward is an agreed share of the seller success fee paid to DataSupply, not the gross contract value or the payment the company receives. DataSupply.ai charges a seller-side success commission only on facilitated transactions that close. There is no upfront seller-side commercialization commission. The published seller-side rates from 8% to 20% apply progressively to the relevant portions of completed transaction value unless otherwise agreed in writing; separately approved expenses may apply. See the current commission tiers. The signed Commercialization Agreement controls. Figures reflect partner-reported agreements and third-party reporting (Bloomberg, TechCrunch, Forbes, The Information). Nothing here is legal, tax or financial advice.